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No. 8 Bears Split Matches Against No. 9 Elmhurst, No. 6 Juniata
#6 Juniata
WashU (21-4) 19 25 25 25 3
#6 Juniata (18-4) 25 21 20 21 1
#9 Elmhurst
#9 Elmhurst (22-3) 26 25 23 25 3
K: Nkiru Udenze - 14
B: 2 Players (#13, #24) - 5
D: Kalehua Katagiri - 22
SA: 4 Players (#6, #11, #24, #25) - 1
K: Mar-Jana Phillips - 8
B: Megan Moroney - 7
D: Gabrielle Ooyama - 12
SA: Katie Dickins - 3
B: 3 Players (#10, #13, #24) - 2
SA: Caroline Dupont - 3
K: Szarmach, Sam - 14
D: Szarmach, Sam - 14
SA: Swain, Kerry - 2
Elmhurst, Ill., Oct. 10, 2014 – After falling to host and No. 9-ranked Elmhurst College 24-26, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, the No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team rallied for a 19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21 win over No. 6 Juniata College Friday night at the Elmhurst Invite III.
Washington U. (21-4) finishes the Elmhurst Invite III by taking on No. 12 University of St. Thomas at Noon Saturday, followed by a match against Simpson College at 2 p.m.
#9 Elmhurst 3, #8 Washington U. 1
The Bluejays used five blocks to win the first set 26-24. Elmhurst grabbed an early 10-6 lead in the opening set, but a kill by junior Nkiru Udenze sparked a 6-0 run for the Bears that gave them a 12-10 lead. Washington U. maintained the lead to an 18-14 advantage after kills by sophomore Alex Sheredy and sophomore Amanda Palucki. The Bluejays scored the next three points to cut the lead to 18-17, but a service error by Elmhurst gave the Bears a side-out and a back-row kill by Sheredy pushed the lead back to three. After a kill by Udenze through the block gave Washington U. a 21-18 lead, the Bluejays used back-to-back blocks to tie the score at 21-21. Another serving error gave the Bears the lead back and a kill by sophomore Caroline Dupont made it 23-21. After taking a timeout, Elmhurst scored three points to get a set-point opportunity at 24-23, but Dupont tooled the block for a kill to tie it again at 24-24. After a kill by Elmhurst, the Bears were whistled for a ball-handling error on set-point to give the Bluejays a 26-24 win.
A pair of aces by Dupont helped Washington U. take an early 6-4 lead in set two. After a pair of errors by the Bears tied the score at 6-6, Washington U. went on a 4-1 run that included aces by senior Lindsay Juriga and Sheredy to make it 10-7. The Bluejays regained the lead with a 6-0 run, before back-to-back kills by Udenze and a ball-handling error on the Bluejays tied the score at 13-13. The teams traded leads to a 21-19 advantage for Elmhurst, but a serve into the net gave Washington U. a side-out and back-to-back kills off overpasses by junior Jackie Nelligan made it 22-21 in favor of the Bears. The Bluejays scored the next three points to get a set-point opportunity, before getting a block to win the set 25-23 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Junior Allison Zastrow tallied six kills for the Bears in the third set, including four in the Bears' first seven points of the set. The teams played back-and-forth until Elmhurst took a 21-17 lead. Udenze powered back-to-back kills through the block and sophomore Kalehua Katagiri got an ace to make it 21-20. An attacking error by Elmhurst tied the score at 21-21. The teams traded points until a kill by Zastrow made it 23-23. A block by Zastrow and Dupont gave the Bears set-point and Zastrow hit a sharp kill to win the set 25-23.
Washington U. took the early lead in the fourth set and Zastrow tooled the block to give the Bears a 12-9 lead. The Bluejays took advantage of three errors by Washington U. to go on a 6-1 run and take a 15-13 lead. The Bears cut the lead to 18-16 after an attack by Elmhurst sailed wide, but the Bluejays scored three of their next four points off attacking errors by the Bears to extend the lead to 22-17. After Elmhurst's ninth serving error, the Bluejays had back-to-back attacking errors to bring the Bears to within 22-20. A kill by Elmhurst and an attacking error Washington U. gave the Bluejays a match-point opportunity. Udenze got a kill through the block to make it 24-21, but Elmhurst finished the match with a kill.
Washingotn U. hit .151 (52-28-159) in the match, while Elmhurst finished with a .188 (51-22-154) attacking error. The Bears were whistled for nine ball-handling errors in the match, and were out-blocked 10-4 in the match. Udenze had a team-high 13 kills and seven digs. Dupont finished with 11 kills, two blocks and three ace serves, and Zastrow added 10 kills, six assists, four digs and two blocks. Junior Cassie Wang finished with a team-high 26 assists and eight digs, while Juriga added 11 assists and five digs. Katagiri tallied a match-high 20 digs, while Sheredy (12) and senior Lauren Yung (10) also added double-digit digs.
#8 Washington U. 3, #6 Juniata 1
Washington U. used a 5-0 run early in the first set to grab an 8-6 lead, but Juniata got back-to-back blocks and an ace serve to take a 9-8 lead. The teams traded points to five ties before a serving error by the Bears and an ace by Juniata gave the Eagles a 17-15 lead. After a kill by Zastrow down the line, Juniata scored the next three points, including its fifth ace of the set, to extend the lead to 20-16. Washington U. pulled to within 21-19 on an attacking error by Juniata, but the Eagles scored the final four points of the set to finish with the 25-19 win.
An early 5-0 run for Juniata helped the Eagles build a 9-3 lead in the second set. They stretched the lead to 13-5 on an attacking error by Washington U. The teams traded points until Nelligan got a kill and Juriga dropped an ace in the middle of the court to cut the lead to 18-13. After a side-out for Juniata, the Eagles served into the net, then hit the antenna on an attack to bring Washington U. to within 19-16. Juniata notched its sixth block of the set and used a blocking error by the Bears to make it 21-16. Udenze hit a line shot to give the Bears a side-out, and Katagiri served the final eight points of the set as Washington U. rallied for the 25-21 win. The final 9-0 run for the Bears included three kills by Udenze, two kills by Palucki and a pair of blocks by Palucki and Dupont.
Udenze asserted herself in the third set, finishing with seven kills while hitting .700 in the set. Katagiri also came up big for the Bears defensively, tallying nine digs in the set. An attacking out of bounds by the Bears gave Juniata an early 9-7 lead in the third set, before a kill down the line by Udenze started a 6-0 run behind Katagiri's serving to give Washington U. the 13-9 lead. The run included two kills by Udenze, one each by Palucki and Dupont, and a block by Palucki and Dupont. Washington U. stretched its lead to 15-10 after back-to-back kills by Udenze, and the Bears maintained the lead throughout the rest of the set, before a roll shot by Sheredy gave them a 25-20 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
In set four, the teams played to a 10-10 tie before Dupont got a kill, then served five straight points, including her team-leading 26th ace of the season, to make it 16-10 in favor of the Bears. The run also included a block by Sheredy and Nelligan, and another by Zastrow and Nelligan. After a serve into the net by Juniata extended the Bears' lead to 18-12, the Eagles went on a 4-0 run to pull to within 18-16 on an ace serve. After a timeout by the Bears, Nelligan found a hole in the middle of the court for a kill to give the Bears a side-out. A kill by Dupont made it 21-17 in favor of Washington U., but the Bears' eighth serving error of the match gave Juniata a side-out and the Eagles got a block and an ace serve to cut the lead to 21-20. Washington U. took a timeout, then got a side-out when the ensuing Juniata serve sailed long. Zastrow got a kill on an off-speed shot to make it 23-20, but Juniata's 14th block of the match again made it a two-point Washington U. lead. A kill by Dupont off a quick set by Wang gave the Bears a match-point opportunity and Nelligan and Zastrow teamed up for a kill to seal the 25-21 win for Washington U.
Washington U. hit .207 (56-28-135) in the match, while limiting Juniata to a .125 (42-25-136) attack percentage. The Bears also had a 57-39 dig advantage in the match, while Juniata finished with a 14-10 edge in blocking. Udenze equaled her season-high with 14 kills to lead the Bears offensively. Nelligan and Dupont added 10 kills and five blocks each, including a .533 attack percentage for Dupont. Sheredy added eight kills and 10 digs, while Palucki totaled eight kills and equaled her career-high with four blocks. Juriga had a team-high 25 assists and eight digs, while Wang finished with 22 assists and four digs. Katagiri had her second 20-plus dig performance of the day, tallying a match-high 22.
Bear Notebook: Elmhurst leads the all-time series against Washington U. 10-7 and has won the last four meetings between the two teams … Washington U. leads the all-time series against Juniata 21-14 … The Bears are 5-2 against ranked teams this season and 30-15 against ranked opponents since the 2011 season … Katagiri has now recorded 20 or more digs in nine different matches this season.


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Approximately $150 million of rated debt affected.
New York, March 14, 2011 -- Moody's Investors Service today assigned a Caa1 Corporate Family Rating and Caa1 Probability of Default Rating to AGS Holdings, LLC. Moody's also assigned a Caa1 rating to the company's proposed five year $150 million second lien note offering. The rating outlook is stable.
The proceeds from the second lien note offering will be used to fully repay approximately $134.4 million of debt at AGS LLC -- a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of AGS Holdings -- fund AGS Holdings' future working capital needs, and pay transaction costs. The second lien notes will be guaranteed by domestic subsidiaries and secured by all assets but will be structurally subordinated to a $30 million first lien revolving credit facility that is expected to be put in place at a later date.
Moody's also affirmed AGS, LLC's existing ratings, including its Caa2 Corporate Family rating. Assuming the AGS Holdings second lien note transaction closes, AGS, LLC's will no longer have any outstanding debt and its ratings will be withdrawn. By refinancing AGS LLC's existing debt in full, AGS Holdings avoids the need to rely on a sponsor equity cure to avoid a likely technical covenant default under AGS LLC's bank credit facilities. If the proposed transaction does not close, Moody's expects the sponsors to provide the equity cure. Nevertheless, if the proposed transaction does not close, AGS, LLC's existing ratings could be lowered given the company's need to amend its existing bank agreement, and address its weak liquidity.
AGS Holdings, LLC's Caa1 Corporate Family Rating reflects its very small scale and significant geographic and customer revenue concentration. Annual revenues are less than $100 million. The ratings acknowledge that the company's primary competitors are larger and better capitalized, and that there is a significant reliance on a key third party supplier and a few key managers for game development. The ratings are supported by the company's moderate leverage -- debt/EBITDA is about 4.6 times -- and Moody's view that gaming demand has shown signs of stability which should enable AGS to grow its installed base, revenue, and EBITDA, albeit modestly.
The stable rating outlook considers AGS Holdings, LLC good liquidity profile. Pro forma for the new $150 million second lien note offering, AGS Holdings, LLC will have approximately $16 million, no long-term scheduled debt maturities, and no material maintenance-type financial covenants. The company plans to put in place a $30 million first lien revolving credit facility -- and will be allowed to do so by the second lien indenture -- but it is not a condition to closing with respect to the proposed second lien notes. AGS Holdings, LLC will, however have cash on hand of approximately $16 million, a portion of which may be needed to fund working capital and planned investments.
AGS Holdings, LLC's ratings could be downgraded if the company is not able to grow its installed base and increase EBITDA, or if its liquidity profile deteriorates for any reason. The company's ratings could be upgraded if its new management team can successfully execute its growth strategy and increase revenues and earnings.
AGS Holdings, LLC designs, manufactures, and operates Class II and Class III gaming machines principally for the Native American casino market. The company has an installed base of about 7,700 machines in approximately 127 gaming facilities (principally Native American casinos across Oklahoma), 10 other US states and Mexico. AGS is owned by affiliates of Alpine Investors II, LP.
The principal methodologies used in this rating were Global Business & Consumer Service Industry Rating Methodology published in October 2010, and Loss Given Default for Speculative-Grade Non-Financial Companies in the U.S., Canada and EMEA published in June 2009.


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When she went into labor last November, 18-year-old Kema James climbed onto the back of a motorbike taxi in her village in eastern Sierra Leone and rode half an hour to the main government hospital in the nearby city of Kenema. When her baby was delivered, he was sickly yellow and stricken with sepsis, an ailment caused by bacteria in the blood, and he hung limply in the hands of the hospital staff. He died five days later before he could be named.
The same fate befell 17-year-old Christina Dasama, only her child was stillborn and she suffered excessive bleeding from a vaginal tear during birth. Another woman in the maternity ward bled to death during childbirth the same week.
Although these deaths might have been preventable, the country is still reeling from the effects of the Ebola outbreak, which has crippled its health care system. Monique Jaques, an American photographer who traveled to Sierra Leone late last year to photograph Ebola's aftermath for a broader project on maternal health in West Africa, documented the plight of these three women.
Sierra Leone and Liberia — two of the West African countries hardest hit by the virus — have long ranked among the world's worst for maternal health, but before the outbreak they had been slowly improving after years of civil wars that reduced both nations to ruin.
Those meager gains have since been erased. Many health care workers, especially those in maternity wards, were exposed to Ebola through contact with bodily fluids and died, devastating the ranks of skilled hospital staff. Most of the country's health facilities were forced to close during the epidemic, precipitating an institutional collapse.
Making matters worse, many health care workers who survived Ebola have been reluctant to return to work, while pregnant women often avoid the poorly equipped clinics and hospitals for fear of contracting the virus or other diseases.
"Women will die at home, they will die on the way to those first small clinics and they will die after a referral on the way to a bigger hospital and in the hospital they will also die of infection or hemorrhage or whatever depending on the structure or depending on the level of staff and their qualifications, or the medications," Dr. Neusy said.
Ms. Jaques — who was commissioned by WaterAid, an international nonprofit agency that aims to improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene — spent a week at the Kenema hospital photographing life and death in the maternity ward. Her images reveal the stark conditions faced by health care workers and patients — a lack of running water, unreliable electricity and limited access to medication and sterile equipment.
In one photo, a health care worker in protective clothing uses a grimy rag to wipe down a mattress and a bloodstained gurney. In another, Ms. James stares despondently at her son on Day 3 of his short life. And then there is the burial of Ms. Dasama's baby, encased in a brown cardboard box and put in an unmarked grave. The quiet resignation of such images is as disturbing as the shocking state of the sickly babies when they emerged limp and jaundiced from the womb.
As grim as the situation is, basic prenatal consultations can identify problems and advise expecting mothers and family members on how to improve maternal and infant health. But like many women fearful of Ebola, neither Ms. James nor Ms. Dasama sought prenatal care, and both suffered from anemia, often caused in poor countries by protein- and iron-deficient diets. Anemia causes fetal health problems and impedes blood clotting, increasing the risk of bleeding during childbirth. Pregnant women in impoverished countries like Sierra Leone are often given iron and vitamins to supplement poor diets.
One of the biggest problems in Sierra Leone, including at Kenema hospital, is poor hygiene caused by the lack of running water.
"Running water and hygiene and hand washing is basic, we're not talking about highly sophisticated stuff, but this affects everything," Dr. Neusy said.
Keeping the aftermath of Ebola in the spotlight was important for Ms. Jaques, but she also offers a sense of optimism by depicting the more uplifting moments when babies are born healthy and families bring food and gifts, showing how things should be.
Finbarr O'Reilly is a writer in residence at the Carey Institute for Global Good, where he is working on a book, "Shooting Ghosts," about the psychological costs of war, to be published in 2017 by the Viking imprint of Penguin/Random House. He was based in West Africa as a Reuters reporter and photographer between 2001 and 2014.
Follow @moniquejaques and @nytimesphoto on Twitter. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.


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HAYWARD, Calif. – A Northern California couple didn't report that their 10-year-old daughter had been shot for more than five hours because they thought she was bleeding menstrual blood, police said Friday.
The girl was sleeping in her Hayward home around 2 a.m. Thursday when a stray bullet from drive-by shooting wounded her in the buttocks, Sgt. Mark Ormsby said.
When the girl woke up in pain and had blood in her underwear, her parents thought she had started her period, police said. They also found no indication she had been shot when they took her to the bathroom.
Ormsby said when she woke up for school and was still in pain, her parents inspected her bed and saw bullet holes.
The girl's doctor told investigators the bullet's entry wound was small and could have been easily overlooked if the family thought she was menstruating.
The girl remained hospitalized in stable condition Friday, Lt. Mark Stuart said.
Police don't have a motive for the shooting and no arrest has been made.


We finalised the packing of the shoeboxes yesterday. Thank you for your support in this incredibly important initiative for our school.
We were able to pack over 20 shoe boxes to be delivered to children in need around the world.
Week 10 Update...The End of a Very Busy Term!
Good morning and welcome to our last post for the term.
I would like to start off by saying a massive thank you to you all. I have so appreciated all that you have been doing to help throughout the term in addition to having your child ready for school each day!
I am very lucky to have such a supportive parent group that willingly puts up their hand to help in so many ways...I really appreciate and value all the support that has been given to myself and the students!
It has been a very busy one with Retreats, Confirmation, Home Masses, School Photos, Cross Country, Shrek, Football games and a whole lot of learning!
Shrek Photos - I have put the photos taken during Shrek preparations on Web Dav Nav for the students to access, if you have any photos it would be greatly appreciated if you could get them to me on a USB so that I can share them with the students. Thank you!
Welcome to Week 9, it is shaping up to be a busy one for the parents and students of Silver Room so my focus this week is making sure that our routines and classroom procedures are consistent so that the students can be as prepared as possible for our performances this week.
I would like to congratulate Jeremy and Zac and their families on a lovely Confirmation ceremony yesterday morning. The boys were very reverent and respectful and were a credit to our class.
Thank you to Polly, Abbey and Greta for taking the time to come along and support the boys, I know they and their families really appreciated it!
Just a few reminders for the last couple of weeks of term.
Uniform- Sports Uniform is to be worn by the 5's and 6's all week. Your son may need to leave their grey school pants and black school shoes here as part of their costume. Please make sure this comes with them to school tomorrow.


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BuzzFeed launches The Tell Show and Cheryl Strayed tells all
Rebecca Bulnes, Marnie Shure, Dennis DiClaudio, Erin Vogel, and Nowah Jacobs
The Best Show
Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend
Bitch Sesh: A Real Housewives Breakdown
Womp It Up!
For Colored Nerds
The Tell Show
HOME: Stories From L.A.
Getting On With James Urbaniak
Not Safe Podcast
In Podmass, The A.V. Club sifts through the ever-expanding world of podcasts and recommends 10–15 of the previous week's best episodes. Have your own favorite? Let us know in the comments or at podmass@avclub.com.
[Subscribe on iTunes]
This week Alison Rosen chats with Michael Ian Black about podcasting, personas, and his latest book Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (But Also My Mom's, Which I know Sounds Weird). The book is extremely personal, and the episode echoes that sense of intimacy. Rosen is clearly a huge fan of Black, asking the questions she sincerely wants answered. When a host is this genuinely excited to pick their guest's brain, it makes for the most listenable kind of interview. The two delve into his chaotic upbringing, his mother's battle with cancer and electroshock therapy as a teenager, and growing up without a male figure in his life. They break down how his mother's sexuality was dealt with when she was young, and how her presence affected the friendships he decided to have as a child, as well as how skipping a grade in middle school was an awful decision. They also discuss how he felt trapped by his comedic persona, and what he's done to escape it. Despite the heavy topics being discussed, the episode still manages to be funny at times, since he and Rosen are so innately charming.
The Art Of Wrestling
Pro Wrestling Fringe: Dave Meltzer
Pro wrestling podcasting trailblazer Colt Cabana is following the trends with a new venture through Howl—a short form, post-produced storytelling show called Pro Wrestling Fringe. Cabana cites Radiolab's episode on the Montreal Screwjob as a major inspiration, and while the influence is clear, Cabana's take is much simpler. The few music cues and Cabana's cadence remind instead of an Ira Glass piece, only the host is speaking frankly about Vince McMahon's infamously misguided attempt in the late 1980s to find a new marquee star. McMahon was enamored with Tom Magee, a world-class strongman and black belt in karate with flowing blond hair and an alleged affinity for gymnastics. But a passable debut match with Bret Hart only prolonged the inevitable as Magee kept a low profile touring farm towns and failing to get much better. When Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter joins Cabana by phone later in the show, he notes that Hart fooled everyone from the fans to the man himself into thinking Magee was "my next champion; who needs Hulk Hogan?" The four-year fall from grace is the stuff of legend in the pro wrestling community, but Magee remains, to this day, squarely on the fringe.
[Nowah Jacobs]
Sound Collage! Avalanche Bob! Papa John! Most Offensive Song: Part 2!
"If you're Peyton Manning, you have enough money. The first guy you kiss can't be Papa John, okay? It can't be!" As Tom Scharpling loops this clip ad nauseam, occasionally yelling along in near-perfect rhythm to Mike Francesa's take on Manning's post-Super Bowl celebration, it becomes clear that he's trying to nail down the timing for an incoming sound collage. Minutes later, the now familiar opening scratches of "Frankie Teardrop" begin to take over some poor sap's story about seeing Dirty Grandpa. The collage is a major highlight of the episode, one of Scharpling's first post-WFMU shows without a phone call from Jon Wurster. The second week of the "most offensive song" topic anchors the remainder of the three hours, which provides ample opportunity for Scharpling's typically delightful a capella renditions of rock songs, including a flawless impression of an out of breath Axl Rose explaining the genesis of his character to the tune of "Welcome To The Jungle." When Scharpling talks openly about how many people still ask him if he misses doing The Best Show and how the Scharpling & Wurster box set didn't make the cut for the Grammys, it's characteristically self-deprecating, but even Kid Jersey's most solemn 30 seconds still bring the mirth.
Please Welcome Erika Jayne!: Adam Pally
This week on Bitch Sesh—the preeminent Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills podcast—hosts Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider are joined by funny man and Housewives super-fan, Adam Pally, to discuss the latest episode of the show. Wilson and Pally go way back from their time together on the criminally underrated show, Happy Endings, and that friendship acts as the perfect foundation for an endlessly fun episode of the podcast. Throughout, the three discuss the "fuckability" of the housewives, dismantling the fourth wall, and the show's need for a clean slate with a new cast. Pally reveals his theory that Yolanda Foster's family got Lyme disease after they were attacked by "very angry deer," prompting a spot-on impression of the housewife. They also briefly talk through their collective envious outrage at not being considered to audition for parts in The People V. O.J. Simpson. Pally says Wilson could've "crushed" the role of Kris Jenner, while he could've been Robert Kardashian (because he's too Semitic to play Kato Kaelin) and Schneider would've been perfect for Marcia Clark. While this alternate casting is as dreamy as they come, for now at least fans have this episode where they can relish in the trio's hilarious dynamic and fantasize about what could've been.
Issa Rae's FRUIT Episode 2
Issa Rae is best known as the mid-level YouTube star and creator of Awkward Black Girl, but her new audio drama finds her showing off her serious side. Now strictly behind the microphone, Rae scripts the program with production by Midroll —the advertising agency that connects your WTFs to your Squarespaces. Her story tells of a man known only as X, a gay African-American football player narrating from the first person as he identifies and covertly explores his sexuality. The 10-part series makes big moves in its second installment, as X spends the bulk of his time at the office of his agent and sometimes lover Siya advocating to get drafted to a different team. The frequent use of X's inward thought process proves successful for Rae in the lengthy office scene, betraying the audience just enough information to hear the doublespeak in his conversation with Siya. The fact that X's first-person narration is told through the familiar lo fi crackle of a cell—or closed circuit prison?—phone, too, leaves listeners with increasingly complex questions. The miniseries will conclude with eight additional episodes on the paid Howl service, though the first three will be available on the Earwolf Presents feed to whet appetites.
Auntie Chellie
This week on For Colored Nerds, hosts Eric Eddings and Brittany Luse discuss the perks of Amazon Prime and Subscribe & Save, and spend most of the show answering an important question: "Is Michelle Obama the most perfect black American ever?" She's made history as the first African-American first lady of the United States, she's incited little controversy during her husband Barack Obama's eight-year presidential term, and she's almost effortlessly balanced her professional ambitions with raising her daughters in a way that is both conventional and unconventional. There's no question that Michelle Obama's time as FLOTUS has been very different than Hillary Clinton's experience in the same role, but as Eddings and Luse explain, Clinton's status as a white woman afforded her the privilege to approach the role in a way Michelle wouldn't have been able to as a black woman. Luse adds that Michelle's unapologetic, very public approach to being a wife and mother has been a model for her as a fellow ambitious black woman starting to think about balancing her own career with her desire for a "traditional" family. "Whether you agree or disagree with the notion that Michelle is, on paper, the most perfect black person, I don't think anyone would disagree with her importance," says Eddings. "She means everything to a lot of people."
[Erin Vogel]
Who Needs Handwriting?
Now that correspondence letters have been so thoroughly usurped by the convenience of emails, and emails have been usurped by the convenience of a thumb symbol on Facebook, there's less and less reason than ever before to pick up a pen and scrape it along a sheet of paper. As such, many people have gotten out of practice at physically writing letters and the legibility of their handwriting has taken a hit. A surprising majority of young people eschew cursive, and some students aren't even taught it. While one may or may not lament the fact that kids these days can't form a weird, curlicue "z" in script, it's worth considering how this change in writing habits will affect our culture. Freakonomics host Stephen J. Dubner takes up this task and interviews a selection of people with varying opinions on and experiences with the dying art of penmanship. Is it sad that newer generations of people will be unable to read the U.S.'s founding documents in their original script? Is it any sadder that their parents and grandparents are unable to read the New Testament in its original language? Listeners should not be too shocked to find their own opinions on the matter shifting several times throughout the episode.
[Dennis DiClaudio]
"The Big Comeback" By Joseph Scrimshaw
Getting On is a fictional podcast performed by actor James Urbaniak, whose captivating voice was made for podcasting. Each episode he performs a different piece written by a different writer, all under the guise of being a further exploration of the character of the man himself, James Urbaniak. Each episode feels like momentarily living one of his past lives with him. This week, "The Big Comeback" by comedian and writer Joseph Scrimshaw explores the idea that Frank Sinatra is Urbaniak's real father. Urbaniak's performance is simultaneously impassioned and nonchalant, the brief 21 minutes feeling like a stream-of-conscious monologue, like this is always who and what Urbaniak has been. In this episode, Urbaniak is a former Blockbuster employee who, like his father, is an innovator in his own right. He explains that like Sinatra, he has vision—that vision being of a "revolutionary" app that matches snacks to movies. "Watching Moulin Rouge!? You're gonna want cheese bread. Bad Boys II? Jalapeño peppers." And the list goes on. The piece itself is hilarious in its sincerity, justifying increasingly ridiculous parallels between the lives of Urbaniak and Sinatra, while the performance and production quality is done with elegance. It all culminates with Urbaniak singing one of his "father's" songs, which is surprisingly touching.
A Home, A Murder, A Mystery (Or Two)
If you're interested in the story of the "Los Feliz murder house," you better be specific: There are at least three houses in the Los Angeles neighborhood that have earned that nickname. But the focus of this Home: Stories from L.A. episode is the Perelson house, the former home of Harold Perelson, who in December 1959 brutally murdered his wife and attempted to kill his oldest daughter while his other two children slept in a nearby room. The younger children woke up when they heard their older sister screaming and Perelson reassured them they were just having a nightmare and then killed himself before the police arrived. Since that night, the house has remained basically untouched; the family's furniture, Christmas tree, and presents undisturbed for decades, which has only made the story of the house and the tragedy that happened there even more fascinating. The house used to be a popular stop on the city's Dearly Departed bus tour (advertised as "a trip down bad memory lane" of Hollywood) until the neighbors made it clear that "murder groupies" making pilgrimages to the tragic house were no longer welcome in their neighborhood.
Heben Nigatu, Tracy Clayton
Since their BuzzFeed podcast Another Round launched last March, Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton have been included in countless podcast best-of lists, visited the White House, and interviewed guests like David Simon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Hillary Clinton. But this week Nigatu and Clayton are in the interview hot seats, talking to Longform host Max Linsky about their evolution from full-time writers to full-time podcast hosts, their dream podcast guests like Malia Obama and Stephen Colbert, and what you do when you forget to bring liquor to your interview with Hillary Clinton. During the second half of the show, Linsky separates Clayton and Nigatu to get a deeper look at their individual paths to BuzzFeed and eventual podcast stars, including Clayton's reluctant move to New York City from Louisville, Kentucky, how Nigatu works actively to seem "more fun" for the show, and the hard work it takes to create a show that refuses to shy away from difficult conversations about mental illness and race. "[Media people] are like, 'You talk about race so well, or effectively,'" says Nigatu. "And I'm like, 'Well… one thing we're doing is trying really hard. Have you thought about that?'"
Learning To Masturbate
Nikki Glaser is a star on the rise—her new podcast with co-host Dan St. Germain comes as a companion piece to her new Comedy Central program of the same name. The Not Safe Podcast, though, follows the classic two-person booth style of podcasting with Glaser and St. Germain talking P—which stands for positivity—about the writers' room. The conversation is so natural and free flowing, it's almost easy to miss some of the bigger laugh lines, like St. Germain recalling how the first time he masturbated to completion he unashamedly called his father into the room to ask if his semen was okay. Glaser and St. Germain's chemistry is packaged with their shared experiences, as well, so that the people on their periphery like fellow comedian Rachel Feinstein and the dreamy Not Safe writer's assistant Joe they tease for being a "horse cum sampler" always come fully realized; the pair rarely has to spend much time giving any context to set up their stories. Skype sex and getting sober round out another enjoyable episode.
The New Pornographers: Brill Bruisers
"Brill Bruisers," the titular first track of The New Pornographers' sixth album, arises seemingly out of nowhere, opening the record with such a confident, driving beat that it almost feels like its intro is missing. Frontman Carl Newman explains in this week's Song Exploder that this rock song was in fact inspired by a lack of confidence in his own rock star status: Singing about stage-diving into a sea of fans spoke to the surreality of this introverted supergroup drawing crowds of thousands. The lyrics that crucially transform "Brill Bruisers" into a call-and-response anthem aren't really words at all: "Bo-PA, bo-pa-PA-BO" runs beneath the entire tune with a specificity Newman details with pride. "Some things I'm pretty lax about. That guitar is good enough, that bass is good enough. But with vocals? No, you have to do it this way." Whether he's joking, it's easy to picture Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar, and the rest of their dexterous roster belting out nonsense syllables as long as it takes to get them just right.
[Marnie Shure]
Cheryl Strayed—Stealing
Brand new Buzzfeed podcast The Tell Show debuted this week, and hosts Summer Anne Burton and Isaac Fitzgerald don't waste any time with small talk before getting started; small talk is the antithesis of the show's mission of discussing intimate life details that most people don't normally share. Every week Burton and Fitzgerald will get to know their guests by asking them questions like, "What's wrong with you?" and listening to stories that have never been shared publicly before. The show's first guest, writer, author of Wild, and Dear Sugar advice columnist Cheryl Strayed, is the perfect fit for a podcast based in brutal honesty; she doesn't even flinch while playing a couple rounds of "Never Have I Ever," that touches on topics like anal sex and masturbating on airplanes. It seems incredible that Strayed, who has built a writing career out of sharing some of her life's most vulnerable, painful moments with readers, would have a story she's never told anyone before, but she delivers with a surprising tale that involves a man on a horse, her first reporting job, a bank robbery, and a well-kept secret.
The Straight Talk Express
With New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primaries finally behind us, leaving pundits to fumble over one another to share their hot takes on the contests' long term implications, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement and imagine that Granite State voters wield an unwarranted degree of democratic power. In the the latest of episode of Slate's Whistlestop podcast, host John Dickerson (of Face The Nation and Slate's Political Gabfest) presents the remarkably compelling story of how in 2000 John McCain, through sheer force of determination and personality, out-campaigned and outperformed GOP establishment candidate George W. Bush and was handed a huge upset victory by New Hampshire primary voters. Dickerson—who covered the race from inside McCain's campaign bus, the so-called Straight Talk Express—unwinds the narrative methodically with an author's eye for telling details and valuable autobiographical asides. By the end, despite what we already know of electoral history, it's easy to get caught up and believe the story has a happy ending for the senator from Arizona. What seemed monumental at the time was quickly erased by a handful Bush victories in subsequent states. Plus, it's nice to be reminded of a time when McCain was arguably the most respected man in Congress.
Matt Besser—Spotlight On: B.B.
In another week of perfect casting, Marissa Wompler (Jessica St. Clair) and Charlotte Listler (Lennon Parham) meet B.B., Marina Del Rey's local drug dealer played by Matt Besser. Besser's absurdly unfiltered and often hilariously aimless improv style is essential in what makes this character work so well. At one point, Wompler points out how everything is like a word association game with B.B., which is a huge part of the fun of him. Everything he says is strange and hilariously in character, but his off-the-cuff remarks are sometimes so strangely specific, he hardly becomes a typical stoner character. From his "selective memory loss" (which accounts for the fact that he has no idea how old he is), to his strange vocal affectation and spontaneous crying, Besser's B.B. is at once a gestural sketch of a character and one of the most developed they've had to date. We get another edition of "What's Cheesins You?", which leads into how Listler is convinced Jerry Garcia is one of the founders of Ben & Jerry's, Wompler is hell bent on using weed to get into Hill 16 so she can jerk someone off, and B.B. doesn't understand how aliens could impregnate humans because their parts wouldn't fit. The things that are said can only be found in an episode of Womp it Up!
We see what you said there
"Yolanda has the bone structure of Dolph Lundgren"—Adam Pally on Yolanda Foster from The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, Bitch Sesh
"Frank Sinatra was the living embodiment of the American dream. He was an angry, poor, Italian kid from Hoboken, New Jersey, but he had a fire in his soul to conquer the world. I had the same fire when I worked at Blockbuster. That's how I became manager."—James Urbaniak performing Joseph Scrimshaw's "The Big Comeback," Getting On with James Urbaniak
"That's one of the things I absolutely love about being a woman, and having such a discreet sexual organ. I could do it right now, while we're doing this show, I could sort of just take care of myself, as every other woman on the planet can—it's really pretty amazing."—Cheryl Strayed on how easy it is for women to discreetly masturbate in public, The Tell Show
A formal taxonomy of sour candies
Marnie Shure

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Threat Facing Isolated Indigenous Groups in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Yasuní National Park and the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone, home to isolated indigenous groups, have become hotspots of illegal logging and hunting.
Daniela Aguilar
An indigenous man navagates along the Napo River as it runs through the Yasuni National Park in the Ecuadorean Amazon region, 300 km east of Quito, on May 16th, 2007.
(Photo: Rodrigo Buendia/Getty Images)
In the depths of the Ecuadorian Amazon, on its border with Peru, indigenous communities have been denouncing what they say is an uncontrolled onslaught of illegal logging and hunting. They claim that Peruvians traffickers penetrate into their territory along the Curaray River in the province of Pastaza.
The problem is about to worsen, according to ecologists. They say the destruction wrought by these illicit activities threatens not just one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, but also endangers isolated indigenous groups that live within Yasuní National Park and the adjacent Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone (ZITT). This is happening despite precautionary measures issued in 2006 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which pressured the Ecuadorian government to safeguard the territory and the indigenous peoples that depend on it.
In response, groups like the Waoranis, Kichwas, and Záparas denounced illegal logging and hunting in their territories. The latter group is located in Coca, the capital of the Amazonian province of Orellana, which was created in honor of the Capuchin missionary of the same name who dedicated his life to protecting Peoples in Isolation from the oil and logging interests that proliferated in the territory in the late 1980s.
In 2015, indigenous resistance attracted the attention of organizations such as Land Is Life, Acción Ecológica, and the Alejandro Labaka Foundation. José Proaño, director of Land Is Life Latin America—an international network that protects the rights of indigenous peoples—was part of the group of specialists and indigenous people that made the complaints, and traveled through the ZITT between May 19th and 29th to corroborate claims of damage and threats to isolated groups.
During the trip, they visited three Waorani communities located within the ZITT and two Kichwa communities on the Curaray River.
"They are mainly picking cedar and chuncho [a variety of native cocoa], but to do this, they had to open trails, put cables and pulleys to remove the logs of wood that are in the forest in order to reach where the rivers flow into the ocean," Proaño said. He said that the testimonies of the communities visited indicate that Peruvian traffickers are to blame. He added that the situation is out of control and that "loggers are going up the Curaray River in a brazen way."
According to Proaño, this situation would have been unlikely just a few years ago due to effective patrolling by the Ecuadorian military, which maintained a significant presence in two control points of the tributary.
"Since the peace process with Peru, the border has been demilitarized, which is healthy but the effects have been disastrous," Proaño said.
David Suárez, of the Alejandro Labaka Foundation, agrees with Proaño. He also visited the area in May.
"What we noticed is that the intrusion of logging camps in the area is much greater than what we estimated. They are in two zones," Suárez said. The first area in which the camps are fully established is in the creek of the River Lobo, across the border. The other one, Suárez explains, is on the right bank of the Curaray River, throughout the Intangible Zone. "We have found about 18 areas, both with hunting and illegal logging. We have found complexes for drying meat, which is going to be shipped and transported to Peru, as well as remains of cedar trees logged and many others marked for future logging."
José Proaño, director of Land Is Life, explained that the traffickers are opening trails in the territory to increase logging, which for now is concentrated in the border areas. He said that the coveted timber is common because the area has been relatively undisturbed.
"The intangible area has been so protected and so well maintained by the villages that live there, that there is cedar by the river—something that does not happen in areas where there are roads or oil," Proaño said. "The first wood that is extracted is always cedar, which is valued in the market at around $3,000 per cubic foot."
Suárez explained that the logging is occurring near Ecuador's border with Peru. "You have the river Curaray River that is shared with Peru downstream. We are talking about how logging is happening quite close to the border. We are talking about an area of 8 to 15 kilometers upstream. That's where we find the last area of logging."
According to Proaño, the issue could worsen and spread outside the Intangible Zone.
"We are afraid that this situation of illegal logging is taking place along the entire border with Peru, in areas between the Napo River and the south along the Corrientes River," he said.
An Abandoned Border
Mongabay-Latam had access to a preliminary copy of a report on illegal logging in the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone developed jointly by Land Is Life, Acción Ecológica, and the Alejandro Labaka Foundation. The report reveals the complete law enforcement abandonment of the eastern part of Yasuní National Park.
It documents that, in October of 2015, a group of specialists from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Justice (in charge of complying with the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR), and the Armed Forces, visited an area of the Lobo River and identified logging camps.
"On the route, we heard chainsaws, but due to the scarce military presence, we did not reach the place where they were sawing," the report stated. "On the river bank of the Nashiño River, which crosses the Intangible Zone from Ecuador to Peru, the Ministry of Environment carried out an operation and arrested three citizens of Peruvian nationality. However, the wood seized and retained in the Ecuadorian military detachment of the Nashiño River was recovered by the Peruvian loggers in a possible violent attack against the military detachment."
According to David Suárez, he found two abandoned camps during his visit to the Curaray River: one for the military and another called Ceilán, implemented by the Ministry of Environment for surveillance of the southern border of Yasuní.
"Some parts of the post had been set on fire, the pump and water tank that supply the park rangers were destroyed. It had been looted and vandalized, which accounts for an absence of the Ministry of Environment in that area," he said. "What we found is that neither the military nor civilians are receiving the resources or the supplies necessary to carry out their tasks; people in the communities argue that if the government is not able to control this, they should give them the checkpoints."
While Suárez does not believe this would be a good solution, he still recommends government coordination with local communities.
"The government has to exercise the control that constitutionally corresponds to them, but we do believe that it should coordinate with the local population," he said. "Bureaucratic requisitions that prevent local specialists from getting surveillance jobs should be avoided. Local specialists are going to be much more interested in preserving their territory than a person who feels punished to do this job."
The few military personnel who remain in the area live in precarious conditions, according to Suárez: "the Cononaco detachment, which is the closest military base to the area (of permitted and illegal hunting), has a staff of no more than five people; canoes are damaged, there is no fuel, they don't even have an endowment of food." Under these circumstances, the military is at the mercy of the same traffickers, whom they identify under the pseudonym "fishermen." "They entirely depend on the provisions they exchange with illegal loggers—I don't know what the deal is. They are the ones who carry supplies to the military."
Double Pressure for Isolated Indigenous Groups
Besides illegal logging, the Peoples in Isolation also worry about illegal hunting—particularly the hunting of collared and white-lipped peccaries, which are the main components of their diet. According to David Suárez, the area has been so well preserved that these species are plentiful.
"Their meat is very desirable for trade and illegal trafficking. Especially the white-lipped peccary," Suárez said. "Just to set an example, people can usually hunt between one and two peccaries and feed their family, and that—even if you share it with the community—can last you two to three weeks." Suárez added that, when he visited the forest, he found camps that were able to smoke the meat of a whole herd. "The peccaries travel in groups of 100, 150, and there are reports that animals are being hunted in those numbers. It is a massive extraction; it is not a [single] poacher's camp. They are actual complexes for drying meat."
"We are exploiting the vital resources of isolated groups. When they hunt 100 or 150 peccaries they are taking the isolated indigenous groups' food supply," Suárez continued. "Another thing that could happen is the outbreak of diseases that can be fatal for these groups. For example, a T-shirt left unattended or a can of tuna can trigger an epidemic of flu, which can decimate a population that is already fragile." He added that with all this pressure being exerted on isolated indigenous groups, "the risk of violent clashes and confrontations is imminent because the camps are getting closer to the hunting trails of the isolated villages in that area." Suárez said that no attacks had been reported from the isolated indigenous groups within the Intangible Zone because it was a territory free of oil and timber pressures.
That apparent peace is about to change.
Risk of Extinction of Isolated Indigenous Groups
"The precautionary measures (from the IACHR) were issued due to the presence of illegal loggers in the Taromenane zone—west of Yasuní. That was the main reason," Proaño said. He added that logging incited the massacre of 30 people from an isolated indigenous group in 2003 by members of the Waorani. "In theory, the Ministry of Justice is the one that has to protect the isolated indigenous groups, so if there are loggers, they have to take measures," Proaño said. "These actions may be: to alert the Ministry of Environment, alert the prosecutor;s office, alert the Armed Forces because it is a border area and it is also violating national sovereignty."
However, Suárez said the Ecuadorian government is not guaranteeing the intangibility of the territories of the Peoples in Voluntary Isolation or Initial Contact (PIACI in Spanish), which he says may constitute a risk of ethnocide and extinction for these groups.
"The relevant state bodies, in this case the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Justice, can argue that they have done patrols and operations. We are not questioning the measures they have taken; we are [concerned about] the absolute ineffectiveness of these measures because they don't prioritize the protection of isolated indigenous peoples. That's the problem," Suárez said.
Suárez acknowledged that there has been progress in generating institutionalism for the protection of the isolated indigenous groups, but these actions "have been given slowly and without being a priority in Amazonian politics." He brought up the last massacre of isolated indigenous people in 2013 that happened to the west of the Yasuní: a group of about 20 Taromenane executed by members of the Waorani to avenge the death of an elderly couple who had allegedly been speared by the Taromenane members. Suárez said that and other similar episodes of violence are commonly associated with oil and timber pressures to which populations in isolation are exposed. For this reason, organizations such as Land Is Life and the Alejandro Labaka Foundation work with the area communities to create a culture of peace and solidarity for the Peoples in Isolation.
"Although the government has a mandate to protect them, the neighbors of the isolated people are the ones in the area, and if their territory is threatened they will take violent actions against the loggers or other people (in isolation)," Proaño said.
Experts fear that outside pressures to which the isolated indigenous groups are subjected in the Intangible Zone will trigger new massacres and heighten the risk of extinction of these populations. In an effort to stop such an outcome, the organizations Land Is Life, Acción Ecológica, and the Alejandro Labaka Foundation are preparing to file one complaint against illegal logging in the area at the attorney general's office, and another for violation of environmental and human rights. They hope that appropriate measures will be taken through inter-ministerial coordination to cease illegal activities in the area.
This story originally appeared at the website of global conservation news service Mongabay.com. Get updates on their stories delivered to your inbox, or follow @Mongabay on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
EcuadorLoggingAmazonIndigenousPacific Standard PartnersEnvironment


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The Dark Knight (revisited)
I've already reviewed The Dark Knight so I don't want to get into plot points, or the film as a whole, or initial reactions or anything like that. But I saw it again tonight, solidifying some of my early thoughts, and the whole phenomenon still fascinates. Why, and on what levels, does The Dark Knight work for me? There are a number of reasons it shouldn't.
As I discussed in my reaction to Jim Emerson's blog, I have fundamental problems with the way comic books tend to be translated from one medium to another. On the page, the symbolism and shorthand - the way characters and events stand for ideas and a kind of focused economy occurs, by which unnecessary details are left out of the frame - often packs a powerful punch. But in films, it usually feels like something is missing. This is especially true when the comic-book movie in question makes some gestures towards "realism" or "darkness" or "depth" which it then can't sustain because it has grounded itself in a shallow, surface-oriented kind of storytelling.
Well, The Dark Knight is not a "realistic" film. That observation was cemented tonight by a friend who sat nearby and shook his head in disbelief every time the Joker got away with another one of his stunts. This is not a movie for those who can't suspend disbelief, and so even if the movie is gritty and dark, it really can't be called "realistic." I have no problem accepting this film on its own comic-book terms, although it grates when fans compare its storytelling chops to works which were far more constricted by plausibility. If it doesn't participate in the "this could really happen" school of realism, it also rejects another kind of realism: a cinematic, stylistic realism, characterized variously by naturalistic performances, long takes, the inclusion of idiosyncrasies. However, there is one, relatively substantial chink in this armor and he's the film's most fascinating element.
I don't want to overstate the Joker's spontaneity and unpredictability (though Erich Kuersten has a fantastic post on the Joker's termite-like ability to spread subversion and mayhem in the otherwise stable and staid universe of the film - you can, and should, read it here). While Heath Ledger's performance is delightfully eccentric (someone pointed out a resemblance to Mel Gibson's facial and speaking tics, which I can definitely see now) his wild-card behavior doesn't exactly spread like a virus into the film's form. There are a few exceptions (a shocking moment when one of Joker's victims slams up against a glass window during minor dialogue; the Joker's propensity to appear on TV in grainy, amateur video; the camera's viewpoint hanging topsy-turvy alongside the killer clown at film's end) but for the most part Joker's scenes are presented like the rest of the movie. The camera is usually moving, dialogue is exchanged in close-up or medium close-up, the cuts keep coming...in other words, all the conventions one would expect of a 2008 action film.
So, in rejecting any kind of story realism (which I don't particularly care about) and also a stylistic realism (which I do kind of care about), how exactly does The Dark Knight worm its way into my heart? Actually, it doesn't - save perhaps for Ledger's performance - but I like it because it worms its way into my mind. Curiously for an action flick, this is a movie of and about ideas. Not in the usual blockbuster fashion (where theoretically anything can be read into movies which were basically created to showcase big-budget explosions), but in the sense that the film actually exists and thrives for the most part by the ideas it presents and considers. Even more unusually, these ideas are allowed to permeate in ambiguity (see my earlier review for more on both the ideas and the ambiguity).
In its embrace of ideas, The Dark Knight is actually in line with a number of films from the past decade, a kind of growing subset of cinema (which sadly, many people seem to have taken as the main stream of the art form). Fight Club, The Matrix, Memento, Adaptation - these and more are films that privilege ideas over character, sometimes (most notably in the case of Matrix) incorporating these ideas within a mainstream action film. Where The Dark Knight parts ways with this trend - and why I tend to like it more than these other films - is in the serious fashion and complex way it approaches these ideas (for once solemnity is a virtue in a blockbuster). By contrast, The Matrix explores concepts about being and consciousness in fairly glib fashion, and its supposedly anti-authoritarian, nonconformist attitude translates with frightening ease into a kind of paranoid, unthinking quasi-fascism. The heroes don black leather and sunglasses, then go on a killing spree, murdering countless civilians (remember, even though the computer can take over their bodies, these are still living, breathing human beings plugged in to the Matrix).
Batman and the film he's in, on the other hand, are constantly grappling with the consequences of his actions. Unlike Neo, he doesn't cavalierly kill those who are who cross his path at the wrong time; in fact, he goes out of his way not to kill even the most heinous offenders. When his inaction leads to death, he struggles with the dilemma and considers turning himself in. Though the tenor of The Dark Knight is undeniably elitist, it is a bitter, hard-won, constantly questioned elitism, much unlike the arrogant ethos of The Matrix (question: if the reality of the Matrix was so easily disproved, why so unquestioningly accept this new reality?). And Batman must pay the price for his privilege, for as a certain other comic book hero likes to say, "With great power comes great responsibility." And sacrifice.
Another interesting contrast: Iron Man. Whereas Bruce Wayne is bored with his possessions, and traumatized by his duties, fighting crime and terrorism is more or less a joyride for Tony Stark. Actually Iron Man is the prototypical feel-good action movie for the Bush era: fight terrorists by buying cool new toys, and don't break a (moral) sweat while you're doing it! Remember when the President told us we should go shopping after 9/11? Iron Man proves the wisdom behind the great man's words. If it weren't for Robert Downey Jr.'s charming insouciance (and he's an actor who usually gets on my nerves) I probably wouldn't be able to stand the movie. As it is, it works kind of like addition with two odd numbers: Downey's smugness plus the film's smugness equals, oddly enough, not-smug or (at least not insufferably so).
Still, there's no doubt that Iron Man takes lightly what The Dark Knight does not, even if both could be warily classified as "conservative" (the difference being between neoconservatism and an older, more pessimistic breed). Though this doesn't really explain my acceptance of The Dark Knight as, if not a great film, at least a very good one. The funny thing is I agree with most of the criticisms against it. The characters DO talk explicitly about all the ideas circulating in the film, instead of letting events and subtle behavior speak for themselves. The film DOES present a rigged deck in which it's a no-brainer that a dangerous nihilistic terrorist (essentially an oxymoron in the real world, but never mind) should be stopped by any means necessary, and besides we'll only do it this once, and you know Batman has our best interests at heart. And the storyline IS extremely contrived and jury-rigged to allow all kinds of forced dramatic events which will crystallize the events and tensions the film is trying to convey. But, somehow, it all works within the context of the film.
I think this is because, despite feints towards gritty realism, The Dark Knight fundamentally accepts the tenets of the superhero genre. It is serious, but not in pretentious, unbefitting ways (like its precursor) - it doesn't try very hard to situate Wayne or Batman in "reality," or overplay its personal, psychological factors (Joker's supposedly deep-seated motivation whimsically changes depending on whoever it is he's about to mutilate). Rather, it is serious about the conventions and implications of the kind of world it is conveying. By staying true to the rules of the comic book, it elevates itself to a higher level, I would say the level of myth. I am engaged and fascinated by the ideas and the tensions within ancient epic poetry, even when I find reading the Odyssey or the Iliad to be a bit of a drag, or to be unsatisfying in conventional dramatic terms. The Dark Knight recognizes that it's not drama or depth the comic-book superheroes are reaching towards, but a mythic scope and amplification. It is not as easy to attain the level of myth on film, what with the specificity and documentary aspect of the medium; when you are focusing on themes and ideas at the expense of the characters embodying and articulating them, it often seems like something's being left out. But this movie makes a game of it and is really fascinating to mull over afterwards.
So, like Batman, I'm willing to put aside my cherished principles in order to declare The Dark Knight an excellent, thought-provoking work. But just this once.
Labels: christopher nolan, movie review/film essay, superhero film, the dark knight
James Hansen said...
I appreciate your well written defense of the film, but what you see as the principles and ideas that make The Dark Knight very good seem standard to me. I think it is the job of every superhero to uphold a set of values and morals and throw them around the movie. Superman, Spiderman, Daredevil, and the X Men (maybe to a lesser extent) all exist a realm of good and bad where the superhero upholds all that is good and the villain upholds everything that is bad. I don't mean this as a criticism of superhero/comic book movies (I actually think most Hollywood movies stick to this kind of character writing) but it is part of what The Dark Knight feel ordinary to me. There's a lot of talk about morals, protection, and evil, but most of it are just statements to propel the next action sequence. Ledger gives the film enormous energy when he is in it, but when he isn't I think the film drags big time. Then, when Two Face becomes a factor, the moral talk becomes really overbearing...I remember a 10-15 minute segment that felt like a trailer because it was cross cutting every character making "deep" moral statements while they were getting chased down by someone else.
Again, I'm not saying all of this to decry The Dark Knight or to be contrarian to the wildly popular film. I understand its popularity, which I think is mainly due to Ledger, and see it as the big action movie of the summer. It may be a little darker and executed a little better than some other movies this summer, but when it comes down to standing out from the rest of the movies, it is only Ledger that takes the film anywhere a standard action/superhero movie normally goes.
I believe that while other superhero films flirt with a set of values and morals, The Dark Knight makes itself about its own particular ethos (which I may not agree with, but hey, as Walter says, "at least it's an ethos.")
What did you think of The Dark Knight's political bent? Stay tuned - some upcoming entries will explore the similarities, in terms of mythology, politics, popularity, and an ability to tap into the public's imagination, between The Dark Knight and another, older, far more controversial film about masked vigilantes who decided to enforce their version of order to protect the public from itself.
There's no doubt that "The Dark Knight" ruminates on its ethos more than your average superhero hero, but that doesn't necessarily make it above average. And, all the same, just because "The Dark Knight" has conversation after conversation after conversation about morals and justice doesn't make it any less present in a much worse film like "Daredevil" or an equally popular series like "Spiderman". I think if anyone goes back to look at other superhero films, they will find the same sense of dealing with justice and sense of character as you find in "The Dark Knight." "The DArk Knight" might make itself about its own ethos, but, if anything, I see that as a fault.
The politics of it seem all over the place to me, which may be a good sign in a sense of dealing with "issues" (although, again, "dealing" isn't the right term...mentioning issues may be closer to the truth.) Of course, there are terrorists that have to be stopped at any cost, and we have vigilantes chasing them with mass destruction of everything around it to beat the terrorists. Batman may be the conservative's hero, but the public is seen as a little more liberal. They have a chance to kill prisoners on a boat (they've made their choice!) but find too much kindness in their liberal hearts to push the button themselves. It's a back and forth between Batman and the public which makes the film work politically a little more, I think. Obviously, there could be other readings that work just as well (on both sides of the political spectrum) but that is my gut reaction.
Honestly though, it seemed a lot more interested in blowing stuff up than grappling with much of anything.
Michael Peterson said...
I've spoken with so many people and on so many sites about my distaste for TDK that I'm not going to get into it here - however, you bring up a different film that I would like to discuss.
"Iron Man" worked for me in every way that the other film did not, and I disagree with some of your points here. I wonder if I'd view it differently if I didn't know the character as well as I do, and thus understand where the character is theoretically going to be taken in the second chapter (Favreau and Downey Jr. both have confirmed their desire to bring Stark down the dark, addiction and corporate malfeasance route that Stark took in the comics).
I'd contend that it's anything but a joyride for him. The first time he flies, sure, there's a sense of giddiness to it, but the film actively punishes him every time he starts to enjoy his role too much. On that first flight, it's the reverse-Icarus cold snap, later it's an awareness that his abandonment of his own company that lets Stane get away with what he does. Stark's consistently played as a man who has to come to terms with his own hubris, because he's spent his life being destructive. While there's a certain wish-fulfillment to flying to the middle east and blowing up tanks oneself, the fact of the matter is, he's responsible for the weapons over there, and the film's message is ostensibly "clean up your mess" - there IS a pointed arrogance to this, as well, and if the studio allows the creators of the film to follow that line as they've promised, he'll be punished for this in the end, as well.
We note all kinds of complexity to the vigilante actions of someone like Batman, who performs the same actions on the smaller scale, but what Stark is doing is just substituting the muggers and serial killers for a real and more present danger. If anything, the film is a more tragic one than TDK, because as far as the Pinocchio / Tin Man allegory goes, he gets his chance at the end to work within the system to make things better (ambiguity here - SHIELD is a govt op - will that be a better choice than vigilantism? Maybe and maybe not), but instead he gets up to the podium and gleefully admits that he's the guy flying through restricted air space and causing international incidents. In the end, he's lost some of that moral battle he's been fighting since his convoy is attacked in the desert, because he once again believes that he's indestructible.
When he makes his announcement, the long-awaited Black Sabbath song plays, and the crowd eats it up - but that song doesn't describe a hero. The lyrics are about a destructive force, which is what Tony is quickly on the way to becoming.
The stinger at the end, about being recruited to The Avengers, all but implies that he's going to go down the fascist road that TDK only teased at before abandoning. Indeed, in the original source comic, Iron Man now IS a fascist, throwing superheroes in concentration camps and hunting down former friends with government backing.
In many ways, the character is the most complex that Marvel ever came up with, and while the first film by nature couldn't dwell too deeply into this (Ang Lee learned this the hard way), all of the hints are there, including the likelihood of his alcoholism. Tony's damned. It'll be interesting to see how far they take him down by the third film.
Michael, an interesting criticism; perhaps I was too harsh in my assessment of Iron Man? Then again, I'm growing tired of nascent franchises farming out the heavy lifting to their sequels, so maybe not.
Anyway, your observations of worthy of a longer reply, so consider this a place-holder. Usually I am e-mailed when someone comments on an entry, but somehow I missed this one. File it with the rest of the Overlook, I guess...
Looking at the comment again I don't think I can really add to my response until the next Iron Man film comes out and I can recontextualize the original (if that's appropriate).
In the meantime, where are your articles/comments on Dark Knight? I'm generally tired of reading/writing about that movie, but I'd still like to hear your POV.


text:
Joseph Gédéon Horace Bergeron
Conservative (1867-1942)
Mr. BERGERON.
When he was deputy inspector his salary was $1,500, I suppose ?
Topic: SUPPLY.
William Mulock (Minister of Labour; Postmaster General)
Sir WILLIAM MULOCK.
No matter what his salary was in some other office, if he is taken from that and put into another office, the vote made for the first office ceases. This is a vote to the office, not to the man. In his new appointment he is given $2,000 a year.
I wanted to lay upon the table some papers I promised to the bon. member for West Algoma (Mr. Boyce). I told him I would do so, and I will do so now. But I am afraid I cannot do so, according to the rules of the House, until Mr. Speaker takes the chair.
They might be laid on the table by any member of the government when the House rises.
I will do it then.
Fisheries protection service-further amount required to provide new boilers and repairs to the hull of fishery protection cruiser ' Petrel,' $17,000.
Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine (Minister of Marine and Fisheries)
Mr. PREFONTAINE.
The ' Petrel ' was taken away from the service of the lakes and was replaced by the ' Vigilant.' The ' Petrel ' was too slow a boat, because the American poachers got away from her, and she could not do the service that was necessary. We have sent her to New Brunswick where there was need of a boat for the service of the department. Before sending her down we had her inspected, and it was discovered that her hull was in bad condition, and that new boilers were required.
Where were these repairs made ?
At Poison's in Toronto, after tenders were asked. She has gone to New Brunswick now.
To pay honorarium to R. N. Venning, chief clerk of the fisheries, for special services in connection with the Russian seizures, as per Order in Council, December 28, 1904, notwithstanding anything in the Civil Service Act, $500.
Robert Laird Borden (Leader of the Official Opposition)
Mr. R. L. BORDEN.
What is this ?
Mr. Venning is an old employee of the department, who has been sent out as a special officer in connection with investigations of this character. He was in Paris when the Behring Sea investigation took place and when these commissions have taken place during the last twenty years Mr. Venning has been sent out from the department. He is a very .competent officer and we generaly allow him a certain amount.
Further amount required for salaries and disbursements of fishery inspectors, overseers and guardians, $20,000.
William James Roche
Mr. W. J. ROCHE.
I would like to ask the lion. Minister of Marine and Fisheries if the government have given a license to any party or parties to fish in Moose Lake, or if any application has been received by the department for the exclusive privilege.
I think there has been an application received for fishing rights in Moose Lake but it has not been entertained.
In other words the department do not mean to grant the application ?
The reason I ask that is that I am informed that an application has been made and that the parties have stated that they are going to receive the exclusive privilege. I am glad to hear such a license is not to be granted. I might ask the hon. minister if he is in receipt of any protest from parties in regard to the closing of Lake Manitoba ?
Yes, I liave received quite a number of protests against the closing of Lake Manitoba but after going into the question thoroughly I have considered that I acted rightly and in accordance with the wishes of the people in deciding that this lake should be closed to summer fishing for a few seasons.
What they complain of particularly is that there was no notice given to the smaller fishermen in advance. And that they have therefore suffered a hardship.
I do not think they could plead ignorance. The matter was before the department for quite a while. As far back as last fall there was an agitation to close the lake for summer fishing. There were petitions in favour of it and counter petitions. Of course, we did not know what position we would take, and it was not until January that I had an opportunity of taking up the question of considering it and deciding it on its merits. At that time, of course, we all supposed that the people round there would know about it. The only serious complaint we received was from a gentleman named Macauley, I think. X do not remember the name now. He complained that he had filled his ice house and was prepared to go on with fishing in the spring. We looked into that case, but we did not consider that the gentleman was Justified in doing what lie had done. He only had a one-year's license, because these licenses were issued every year, and a man with only a license for one year is scarcely justified in going to a large expense without inquiring whether the lake is going to be kept open or closed.
Mr. W. J. ROOHE.
I understand that there were some protests received from citizens of Portage la Prairie. When I visited the province of Manitoba two or three weeks ago I heard that citizens of Portage la Prairie had sent in strong protests to the minister against the closing of the lake. It appears that there is a short line of railway from Portage la Prairie to this lake which is largely used for excursion purposes and as a resort for the people of Portage la Prairie ; they intend deepening the harbour there, and I think the government were about to grant, if it is not already granted, a sum for dredging to be done for that purpose. They claim that if fishing is done away with it will practically render the harbour useless to them and will result very detrimentally to the citizens there as well as to this railway. That is the principal reason advanced, but besides that a great many people take issue with those who claim that it is necessary for the protection of the fish to have a close season. As to that point I am not in a position to judge. But many people who live in Portage la Prairie claim that there is no likelihood of the lake being Mr. W. J. ROCHE.
depleted of fish by keeping it open at the present time.
I wTent thoroughly into the question. I do not say that I am an expert, but from the officials I gather that there was only one salvation for the lake and it was to close it to summer fishing for two or three years. The lake is being depleted very fast. If these gentlemen that my hon. friend mentions have gone into an enterprise which depends on this class of fishing in that lake during the summer we could not render them a better service than by closing it for two or three summers so as to put the lake in the fcondition it was in former years. It is in a very bad condition at the present time.
Why is it necessary to have this additional sum placed in the supplementary estimates ? Why was it not placed in the original estimates ?


text:
The Martin Wickramasinghe Museum
Sri Lanka History Books
One of our first mornings in Galle, we took a bus to Alanthgama with the intention of seeing stilt fisherman — one of Sri Lanka's most iconic images. But whether it was due to the stormy seas, the time of day, or the recently completed New Year's festivities, the stilts were unoccupied. Foiled! Now what would we do?
"It says here that the Martin Wickramasinghe Museum is nearby."
"Martin Wickra-what?!"
"No clue. Some author."
We were only going because there was nothing else to do, and were in solid agreement that house-museum of an author we'd never heard of couldn't possibly be the slightest bit interesting. But how wrong we were!
The museum is split into a couple sections. The cabin where Mr. Wickramasinghe grew up has been preserved and contains original furniture, pictures of the author receiving awards and a thorough chronicle of his life. Wickramasinghe (May 1890 – July 1976) was one of the cultural lights of colonial Ceylon, and one of the few writers of any prominence who chose Sinhalese as his primary language. He was fascinated by the culture of his island and worked tirelessly to both nurture and promote it.
One of his projects was a Sri Lankan Folk Museum, which we visited after touring the cabin. The museum is deceptively large, with a fascinating collection of the tools, masks, fashions and utensils of Sri Lanka's past. Nearly every item was described in both English and Sinhalese. My favorites were a set of antiquated board games, and the recreation of an amazing 7th century Monsoon Furnace uncovered near Ratnapura.
I already knew that the early Sinhalese were considered ancient masters of engineering for their irrigation projects, but this really blew my mind. They had set up west-facing iron-smelting furnaces to capture the winds of the yearly monsoons. Modern engineers scoffed at the idea, until recreating it themselves. The monsoon winds are steady and strong enough to produce high-quality iron, and the furnaces generated up to ten tons annually.
The Martin Wickramasinghe Museum was an unexpected highlight. It was crowded with Sri Lankan families, but we were the only foreigners present. That's a shame — tickets are only 200 rupees per person, and the exhibits provide an unforgettable glimpse into the island's culture.
–Galle Hotels
Alanthgama,Folk,Important,Martin Wickramasinghe,Museums,Sri Lanka,Sri Lanka Museum Guide,Travel Blog,Writer
Tuk-Tuking around Sri Lanka
The Habaraduwa Turtle Hatchery
Friend-Friends and Other Observations
Tap that Toddy
Sri Lanka Reading List
The Temple Town of Kataragama
Lahugala Forest and the Magul Maha Vihara
The Martin Wickramasinghe Museum One of our first mornings in Galle, we took a bus to Alanthgama with the intention of seeing stilt fisherman -- one of Sri Lanka's most iconic images. But whether it was due to the stormy seas, the time of day, or the recently completed New Year's festivities, the stilts were unoccupied. Foiled! Now what would we do?
Hi Mike, Guess you two are still in Galle. I think it's raining hard there time to time. If not you can try the beautiful beaches in Unawatuna or Roomassala. Unawatuna is more popular, crowded and yes, easily accessed.You two can try the Jungle Beach in Roomassala, Galle. Roomassala is a hill at the other side of the Galle harbor is well known for exotic plant life, folk-lore of 5000+ years and the Japanese Peace
Pagoda. It also has a splendid, isolated beach the locals call the
"Jungle Beach". The sheltered sandy beach facing Galle bay is one of the
most secluded, magical and wildest beaches you could find. During calmer days it's like a pool. You can compare it with Trinco and Arugambay beaches. Plus the view of the Galle fort, bay, harbor and the vast ocean from the top of the hill view points or from platform of the pagoda is amazing. Give it a try on a clear day.Cheers…!
Hi Guys, Jst saw on twitter that you've visited the beach. Cooool… 😉 Awaiting for your trip report…!! Cheers…!
Thank you for the comment … yeah, we went yesterday and loved it. We were the only ones on beach. True paradise! We will be writing about it very shortly!


text:
The Hermitage Museum
The Winter Palce
The Hermitage 20/21
Hermitage Live
President Welcome
Honorary Chairman Welcome
Legal Founders
Complete Legal Dossier
Accompanied Law Firm
Lead Patrons
Watch & Explore
Informative Brochure
Geniza from the National Library
Dada and Surrealism Exhibition
Utopia and Reality Exhibition
White City – Bauhaus Architecture
My Hermitage Book Presentation
Esteblishment Board Meeting
Visit to the President of Israel
A Visit to Israel Museum Jerusalem
A Visit to Yad Vashem Museum
A Visit to Tel-Aviv Museum
A Visit to the Tel Aviv Municipality
Donation to the Hermitage
70th Anniversary of Israel
Romanov Dynasty Banquet
Homage to Catherine The Great
Hermitage Founding Reception
Hermitage Family In Israel
Artistic and cultural extension of the State Hermitage Museum
The Hermitage Museum Foundation Israel, Registration Charity No. 580576726, is the only legally authorised entity acting as an extension of the State Hermitage Museum and manage a representational of the Museum in The State of Israel for enriching the cultural knowledge of the Israeli public.
Our Main Goals
To be an artistic and cultural extension which will promote and lead activities within the State of Israel in the fields of art, architecture, design, education and culture whilst emphasizing the collections of the Museum and the rich Russian culture.
To maintain, manage, promote, nurture and encourage cooperation between the Museum and other museums and cultural centres in The State of Israel in the fields of art, architecture, design and crafts.
To impart knowledge to the Israeli public in the fields of arts, culture, architecture and design while emphasizing a direct connection to the Museum, its collections and its history.
To become a central extension which works on development and promotion of the art, whilst cooperating with other institutes in The State of Israel and overseas, in conjunction with The Hermitage museum.
To carry out and perform actions which can assist in development of art, architecture, design and culture, as well as to assist developments and cooperation overseas in conjunction with the Museum and for the sake of the public in The State of Israel.
Our Informative Brouchure
Hermitage Museum Foundation Israel
Registration Charity No. 580576726
The Winter Palace
Hermitage Affiliates
The Bylaws
Copyright © 2013-2020 Hermitage Museum Foundation Israel


- Address lists (e.g. creating lists other than the GAL; replacing the default OAB).
- Mailbox stores. It seems that a single mailbox store consists of two files, the .edb file and .stm file (MDBEF and MIME formats, respectively)...and one or more log files.
- Moving mailbox stores to different disks, and mailboxes into different stores.
In Exchange 2003 Standard w/ SP2, you can have a single mailbox store of up to 75GB. In the Enterprise version you can have up to 20 stores which, I think, can each be up to 8TB in size. Wow.
There's also something called circular logging which prevents Exchange from saving zillions of log files and thereby chewing up your disk space. The downside of enabling this is that it somehow reduces your disaster recovery options and requires that you regularly run a full backup of your stores. Of course, you can also keep logging enabled and do frequent backups & the backups will automatically delete the log files. So, there's little value in using circular logging.
The two database files, the .edb and .stm files have something to do with MAPI (i.e. "Outlook") and non-MAPI clients (i.e. everything else), but I'm not quite sure what.
Haven't figured out what an X400 address is, but one site says that you can't disable it.
Deleted items retention - it's a great feature. I've used it on two occasions to make people very happy. In one case, a user accidentally deleted her items. On the other occasion, an employee was terminated (but her user account was left enabled) and she logged in from home to delete emails via OWA. We recovered those emails, but what if the employee had known about DIRT (deleted items retention time) and what if the employee had purged those messages via OWA? We would've had to do a restore from backup...and that would've been very time-consuming ('cause so far, I've never restored an Exchange backup!). Microsoft tells how to hide the relevant command in Outlook via GP, but that won't help w/ OWA. There's a helpful post about this general topic at Experts-Exchange.


The world of weddings is one of the most creative lifetime events for many people and things never stay the same for long for couples or people in the wedding industry. One of the latest innovations that are changing how people make their wedding memories is the wedding cartoon. This isn't a cartoon, but a full out animation service that tells your love story. Fully customised, a wedding cartoon love story animation can provide the entertaining for the guests and leaves memories to return to for added joy.
Since the cartoon is fully customised, we will need your input on the storyline. This is done in the form of a typical storyline which is emailed to you. Typical doesn't mean you follow the story. It is just something for you to reference and you should follow the format to draft out your own story. Take some time to write out or draw out the story you want your animation to tell. The more detail you can give, the better able we will be able to see it too and reproduce it. Knowing what you want will also allow us to make suggestions on how to make your idea even better.
The character design are drawn according to the features of your face. This, we require that you submit approximately 3 photos of yourselves and we see which photo are good for us to draw out your design. After which, we email the character design to you and if there is any changes that you need, please kindly let us know which feature and how you want it to be changed. As our designer has tried their best to do up the design, by throwing back the design without any constructive suggestions is not good enough.
We proceed with the animation production once the storyline and character design has been agreed upon. Once animation production starts, there won't be any changes allowed to the character design. This is because changing a feature of the character requires changing each and every frame of the animation, which takes a lot of work. The 1st progressive draft (half of animation) is usually ready within 3 weeks.
We continue with the cartoon animation work and within another 3 weeks the whole production should be completed.
Voice recording is performed in our office (preferred) or couple can simply record the voice in a quiet place and email to us. iPhone usually are able to make it.